Plaza House

Casa Plaza is located 200 meters above sea level on the south slope of Lake Gutiérrez in San Carlos de Bariloche, Rio Negro Province, Argentina, surrounded by a large Coihues forest with great views of the lake axis.

These volumes define and organize the different uses of the house and are connected through a large square located on the axis of the complex, which is the place of contemplation and recreation.

This fact determined the development area of the project, to avoid tree felling. The current access road to the complex is an old cattle road. The house is supported on piles that do not affect the natural slope of the terrain and generate free flow.

The project had to provide spaces that allowed flexibility of recreational and use programs, both interior and exterior, as well as a wide variety of uses capable of adapting to the needs of the different seasons of the complex.

The guest volume (two rooms) and the main volume are connected by a bridge. The large common rooms provide a warm environment, with a large kitchen-dining room, and living room, all accompanied by fireplaces.

Due to the extreme slope and internal regulations of the club, the underneath of some volumes contains alternative programs (pool, sauna, lounges, fireplace).

Built entirely of stone, this block provides a cinema, grill, kitchen, and bathroom. The square serves as an expansion of these uses, equipped with a table and a fire pit.

Two of the four volumes are clad in burnt Pacara wood on their exterior with a black sheet metal roof, supported on a reinforced concrete slab, iron columns.

Another volume combines wood and stone in its contact with the natural terrain and a last semi-buried volume, which faces the square, entirely of stone and black sheet metal. Inside, all the blocks are fully clad in Bolivian Lapacho and Petiribi wood carpentry.